Behind the Hit Game ‘Dots’

The newest app to hit the top of the App Store charts is about as simple a game as it gets — and it turns out that’s what iPhone owners want in a game.

Meet Dots, a connect-the-dots game from co-founders Patrick Moberg and Paul Murphy. The game came out of Betaworks’ “hacker-in-residence” program, with Moberg leading the design of the game.

Here’s how the game works: You connect like-colored dots in a line to pick up points. You can connect as many dots as you want, as long as they are right next to each other (and not diagonally).

If you connect the dots in a square, all the dots of that color disappear from the board. Then they’re replaced with new ones of random colors from the top. There are four colors total.

You can use the points you earn (or buy points) to pick up power ups that will make the game a little easier, like adding 5 seconds to the clock or eliminating a single dot to make it easier to connect a square.

It’s simple, very stripped down, and extremely addicting — just the sort of game Moberg was looking to make, he said.

We caught up with Murphy and Moberg. Here’s an edited transcript of the conversation.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.